The Remnants
by Ya Boy Guzma
Summary: Sun and Moon couldn't stop the last Ultra Beast. The Champions disappeared, the Beasts ran wild, and Alola was ravaged. A month later, as monsters roam everywhere and as a region lies in ruin, a boy with a secret, a masked wanderer and a girl coming home may just be the region's only hope...
1. Survival

"So, this is me again. Hi Mum. Thirty-two days, and I'm still alive and kicking on Melemele Island."

The Hau'oli Outskirts were quiet as usual in the early morning. It had been a while since they had been vibrant and alive, full of people going about their business and wild Pokemon engaging with the locals. These days, the long grass had grown out of control, wild Pokemon hiding within it fearful of what could appear at any moment. The dust of the Route hadn't been disturbed by the footsteps of anyone in a long time. Anyone except Dexter, that is.

Dexter sat outside the abandoned Trainer's School under a tree, his back turned to the old building with doors hanging off their hinges and windows smashed open. His eyes, a dull blue and heavy from a lack of sleep, focused instead on the laptop computer sat on his lap, the little red recording light on his webcam blinking. The screen's white light danced on his pale face in the shade, showing up a remarkably clean-shaven face given the circumstances, and throwing a shadow underneath his nose, bent ever so slightly from where it had been broken in the past.

He sighed. "If you're watching this, I know I've sent you one of these every day since everything went to shit. I have to. I can't let you think I'm not doing just fine, can I? But I know the signal in Alola is so patchy for outside transmissions, so in case you haven't got any of my messages until now, and are wondering what's been going on..."

Dexter stood up, pulling his lanky frame upright and checking behind him before carrying on. "It's been thirty-two days since these weird creatures arrived here in Alola, kept appearing from holes in the sky. I don't know what started it, how they were able to get here, but now they roam everywhere, killing people and Pokemon, destroying everything. Alola's a wreck, compared to what it was like when I got here."

He reached down for a second and picked up a small walkie-talkie radio in his left hand, sat beside him. "These creatures... the locals call them the Ultra Beasts. They come from another world, they're like Pokemon but so different. I just call them the Beasts, and I know the name of one of them, but there's a few different types of them. Don't worry, I know my Pokemon can help me out fighting them. We've been managing to keep safe from them so far."

"I know, I probably should have tried to come home the day this all went downhill. Alola's become like something out of an apocalypse movie. But come on, how could I leave? Dad taught me.." Dexter paused for a moment, looking away from the camera, before looking back. "Dad taught me growing up to never leave people behind when you can help them. I know he's gone, and it's a corny line coming from a former Ranger, but I'll never forget him telling me that, Mum. That's why I stayed. I can help."

He reached down to grab his backpack and shoulder it over the top of his red T-shirt, all the while holding his laptop in his outstretched right arm. "You see, travelling back home in Sinnoh as a kid meant my team and I can use moves Alolan Pokemon can't. The locals here relied on these things called Ride Pagers to get around, which meant they would call wild Pokemon to help them cross seas or break boulders or fly places. The fact that Empoleon can use Surf and Staraptor can use Fly means I don't have the same issues the locals had when the wild Pokemon refused to answer the Pagers and come to help against the Beasts, or when the Pagers lost their signal. I'm not completely trapped on one island, like all the locals. So I can go where I'm needed to help people, travel around and fight off these 'Beasts' if they turn up somewhere."

"That's where the radio comes in, you know?" Dexter held it up to the camera for a second, before placing it back down at his feet. "It's how I find out where I'm needed. Internet might not work, and neither do the Pagers, but the survivors here keep in touch on the radio, let people know where help is needed and so on. And it's how I know the name of one of the Beasts. This... hacker, a guy calling himself Edge, leaked some top secret Aether Foundation files from the weird scientists here. Turns out they'd been studying a Beast called Nihilego, found out its weaknesses and everything. Between that, and Edge broadcasting updates where new Beasts emerge, it's good to have this little thing around. Keeps me safe out here".

"I guess what I'm saying, in a really long and convoluted way, is that I'm capable of handling myself out here. Empoleon and I are learning how to fight these Beasts, what their weaknesses are. Mudsdale and Salazzle are getting stronger too, every day. We've helped people from Melemele Island to even Poni Island, though I don't want to go back there anytime soon. I've tried finding files in the Aether Foundation's labs across the region to help me learn more on what these Beasts are-" Dexter's head snapped to his right as a burst of muffled static came over the miniature radio at his feet, but when nothing happened he carried on- "but even if I'm not learning that much new, the important thing is I'm surviving just fine. And hey, if all gets worse, it's not like Staraptor can't Fly home to Jubilife in an emergency. I don't want to leave when I can help, but if I have to..."

"So yeah, if you're receiving all of these, I'm sorry my repeated explanation of the situation is boring, but I'm still alive Mum. Mudsdale got injured a couple of days ago fighting one of those Beasts, so I'm headed for Iki Town to see if there's any medical supplies around. I don't think the Beasts have got to there yet, so hopefully I'll be able to find some more Potions from any locals left behind there."

Dexter, despite the loneliness of the situation he was in, smiled to the camera. "I love you, and I miss you. And I'll come home, I promise that. I've just got to do as much as I can to help these people, and then I'll get home. I'll speak to you tomorrow. And hey, it's four days until my birthday, you know? I've got to try and find a cake and seventeen candles somewhere, I guess... Speak tomorrow, Mum."

He clicked the red button on his laptop, pausing for a moment to wait for the message to send, but when he realised the computer was doing its usual and not showing if it had been delivered successfully, he sighed and closed it up, sliding his backpack off his back and slipping the laptop into his backpack. He was doing all he could. One day he would hear back from his mother. Hopefully...

As he packed a tourist map from when he first arrived in Alola into his backpack, Dexter took a look around the derelict schoolyard once again, lifting his cap off his head and wiping the sweat off his forehead from beneath his messy, bedhead hair. He was sat in what probably used to be a parking lot for the school, but nature had begun to encroach on the untended yard, vines beginning to grow on the fence and the grass beginning to get uncontrollably long. There was a large black stone nearby with a message carved into it, and if Dexter squinted he could make out the beginning sentence of "Let's learn and gro-" before the moss covered the rest of the slab, but other than that the school was a shell of what it once was.

Shouldering his pack again in readiness to leave for Iki Town and to find some medicine, he jumped for a moment when he heard the radio beside him squawk suddenly, disturbing a Pikipek in the overgrown hedgerow. "Calling anyone who's out there, we need help in Hau'oli City! We're under attack in the Shopping District, one of the Beasts ambushed us! Please send help! Somebody come!"

Dexter stretched out his arms, groaning in satisfaction as he felt some of the numbness from where he'd been sat down trying to get his laptop to work disappear, before picking up the radio and tucking it into the back pocket of his cargo shorts. He was close, and there was no time to waste. He would go and help out however he could. But first...

He turned to look at the foot of the tree and rolled his eyes. "Come on, we've got another one. I've got to go and help, there's no excuse when I'm so close. You know what to do."

As he turned away, part of the shadow that appeared to be thrown by the tree blurred for just a moment, as if something else was causing it, before Dexter's own shadow appeared to ripple and distort to another shape just for a second. It happened so fast it could have been lost in a blink of an eye, but Dexter didn't even bat an eyelid.

"Come on," he said, as if to himself, as he began to break into a faster pace of walk towards the Beachfront and the former glory of Hau'oli City, his shadow flowing behind him. "We've got another Beast to take on..."

 **(***)**

"Calling anyone who's out there, we need help in Hau'oli City! We're under attack in the Shopping District, one of the Beasts ambushed us! Please send help! Somebody come!"

The second the radio finished squawking its plea for help, a large hand wrapped in black gloves reached down and switched it off, as quick as a flash. Its owner pocketed the radio deep within a long, brown, hooded cloak, its edges frayed and burned from a lifetime of abuse.

Beneath the hood, and on top of the roof of the abandoned Marina in Hau'oli City, deep eyes looked out across the bay to the horizon, sunken back beneath the colourful mask that hid the face of the man beneath the cloak. He stayed low and crouched, staring out to sea as if pondering for a moment.

He grunted, stood up and turned his head to one side, not looking at the shadowy presence behind him. "Ready?"

The tall, black being behind him crossed its arms from where it had been basking in the morning sunlight, and nodded its head in silent response to the gruff, deep voice. With a mere nod from the hooded man in return, without a further word being said, before both the man and his companion jumped from the roof and began to slink towards the Shopping District, keeping as low and as hidden behind cover as they could...

Duty called.

 **A/N: Greetings all, it's ya boy.**

 **I've been wanting to write an apocalypse fic for a long time now, and this is hopefully the start of something good- we'll see what happens when Sun and Moon failed to stop the Ultra Beasts from coming to Alola, and what was left of Alola after this. Updates to this may not be regular, as I've started this around my exam season in real life, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this first set-up chapter, and are looking forward to finding out a little more about Dexter and his shadow, Edge, the Beasts themselves and our mysterious hooded man. Please leave a review if you feel kind (I just insist on no flaming, y'know. Constructive criticism is fine, flames are just rude) and I welcome any and all favourites/follows of my work or myself (feel free to check out my other stuff).**

 **Until next time, ya boy, out.**


	2. The Wanderer

**A/N: Guess who's back, back again? It's ya boy.**

 **This took a little time, what with revision and all, but another chapter of The Remnants is here, and I'm very happy to say that. It's time to see how Dexter gets on after last chapter, where he heard the call for help against an Ultra Beast- I hope you enjoy!**

 **(***)**

Dexter ran.

The Beachfront in Hau'oli City had once been a thriving, fashionable district of one of the main cities of Alola, teeming with shoppers and beachgoers alike who adored both the beautiful sands on one side of the road, and the stylish boutiques on the other side. Now, like the rest of Alola, it was a shadow of its former self. Inside a shop which used to sell clothes, the naked shop mannequins lay like corpses on the dusty floor, looted of all they had worn by opportunists who had tried to benefit from Alola descending into chaos. Opposite the shops, with their smashed out windows from where people had forced entry, the burnt-out frame of a pickup truck sat abandoned, long since destroyed. The question of what had destroyed it wasn't one Dexter could answer. Nor was it one he intended to stay around and find the answer to.

Up ahead, another pickup truck, bright yellow, had been thrown onto its side, although this one hadn't been destroyed by fire like the previous truck. Squatting behind the hood end of the truck, Dexter took a moment to regain his breath, his hands absentmindedly brushing the Pokeballs on his belt. He hadn't survived a month in what remained of Alola by rushing headlong into danger wherever he found it; just because he was responding to a distress call over his radio from a frightened local under attack from a Beast, it didn't mean he was going to throw himself to the Beast instead. He needed to know what he was up against before he threw himself into anything.

Just to make sure his warning system didn't get lost, he slid his backpack off his shoulders and slipped the pocket radio he had been carrying in his back pocket into the bag. Wiping a little sweat from his face in the heat, he took a swig of water from a water bottle he was carrying, before peeking up over the mass of the overturned truck to check he was still alone on the Beachfront. So far, so good.

Slipping the water bottle back into his bag and putting the backpack back on, he nodded to himself, rolling his eyes at the almost imperceptible delay between him nodding and his shadow nodding. "Right, I'm ready."

Slowly standing up and dusting himself off, Dexter started walking towards the city's Shopping District, looking for the person who had put their distress call out. He didn't know what type of Beast they were under attack from, or whereabouts in the city the Beast was, but if he kept quiet and close to the fences, then hopefully he would be able to find the attacker and stop it as soon as he-

Dexter's head whipped round to the right as he heard a crack from his right, as if a twig had been stood on. A concrete wall to the right of the very entrance of the Shopping District had a large dent in it, as if something had hit the concrete itself, but it was the little green area over the wall and off the side from the road that caught Dexter's eye. It looked like something had moved in the overgrown clearing, something hidden in the shadows amongst the twisted grass and the enormous palm trees, and Dexter creeped closer, his hand instinctively reaching for the Pokeballs on his belt...

Suddenly there was a crash of glass to Dexter's left, tearing his attention away from the clearing. "What the hell?!"

The building to Dexter's left was almost ornate, with terracotta pillars and large beautiful windows that somehow hadn't been shattered- it seemed almost in pristine condition, with even the signs saying 'Alola Tourist Bureau' being perfectly clear. However, the crash of glass had signalled the arrival of two new people on the scene; despite the front door being wide open, two people who looked like swimmers had jumped out of the Bureau through the window, as if in a state of panic. The girl took one look at Dexter and screamed. "What are you doing? Get out of here, run, that thing is coming!"

"I came to help!" Dexter shouted back, holding back from throwing- in the rush, he had drawn his Empoleon's Pokeball and was ready to let fly before he saw the two Trainers. "I recognise your voice from the radio, I came as quick as I could!"

"You're here to rescue us?" asked her male companion.

"Yes, but you need to tell me what I'm dealing with. I need to know what sort of Beast is in there before I try to fight it!"

"Um..." The girl looked flustered, panicked in the moment, as Dexter noted the lack of Pokeballs between the pair of them. "Okay, i-it's got tentacles, I guess, I don't really know-"

"Nihilego," Dexter said under his breath, recalling what he knew and trying to calmly formulate a plan quickly- his Mudsdale was injured, but Empoleon could do the job.

"Yeah, that's the one!" the male swimmer said, nodding. "That's what the other guy who came to rescue us called it, remember?"

"Wait, the other guy?"

Dexter's question would be answered immediately, but not by either of the two people he came to help. All of a sudden a loud crash came from within the Tourist Bureau, and through the open door a series of boulder-like projectiles came flying out into the street, missing the two swimmers as they sprawled on the floor to avoid the projectiles and slamming into a red gateway across the road. Dexter recognised it immediately as a Power Gem attack, but what came next was a surprise even to him; following the attack, an unknown Trainer and their Pokemon came flying out, diving to the ground and rolling to stand protectively in front of the group.

Dexter took in the strange newcomer and their Pokemon immediately. The Pokemon stood by the stranger was a Lycanroc, in its Midday form; Dexter had encountered both types in his brief travels of Alola before the Beasts ran wild, but none looked as powerful as the one before him, a growling mass of muscle. The stranger, however, was completely different to anyone Dexter had seen. Cloaked in a brown robe of some kind that cut off just below the knees and covered their head in a hood, when the stranger turned he could see a colourful mask hiding the newcomers face above the mouth; the facial hair and the large Adam's apple led Dexter to believe a man was beneath the hood, but other than that he couldn't tell much. Black gloves covered his hands, but the couple of scars he saw on the bare legs of the newcomer and on one cheek, along with the burnt edges to the robe, gave the man the look of a fighter.

"Don't just stand there," came the gruff and definitely male voice of the newcomer, as he gesticulated at the three other humans. "Get out of here."

"Who the hell are you?" Dexter asked, quickly, as the Lycanroc's hackles rose.

The stranger turned, realising for the first time Dexter had arrived. "What do you mean? Who are you, young man?"

"I came to help!" Dexter replied indignantly. "These guys were in trouble-"

"I've got this under control." The firm reply came moments before the man turned to face the door of the Bureau. "Here it comes again."

As Dexter and the swimmers turned to the door, Dexter's blood ran cold at the sight of what emerged from the Bureau, clenching Empoleon's Pokeball even tighter. The white hat-like head, the tentacles dangling underneath the floating body, and above all else the disturbing aura of unknown energy that hovered around the semi-translucent head of the Beast and danced on the tips of its tentacle were so familiar. He knew it all too well from his travels, and his face hardened as the almost-Pokemon's body shook, a weird and brittle cry emanating from it like a battle cry...

"Nihilego," said the newcomer gruffly, balling his fists. "Alright Lycanroc, use-"

"Get down!" screamed the female swimmer, and the stranger suddenly realised, as the Nihilego shook again, that it had been preparing a move all this time. As the toxic sludge it had been gathering became properly visible, the Nihilego launched an Acid Spray at Lycanroc, caught like a Stantler in the headlights and unable to dodge...

With a blinding white light, Dexter's Empoleon emerged with a fierce cry from her well thrown Pokeball in front of Lycanroc, spreading her flippers wide to shield the group from the Acid Spray and its harmful toxins. "Emp!"

The stranger turned to Dexter. "How did you..."

Dexter shrugged. "Part Steel type, my Empoleon. Very good against a part Poison type. And I've got a very good throwing arm." He shook his head. "I don't care what you say, I came to help, and you need me to get this under control. Empoleon, Flash Cannon!"

Dexter's starter and stalwart cried out, before firing off the attack almost immediately at the Nihilego, still framed in the doorway. The Beast swooped sideways out of the way, before giving a defiant cry and readying another Power Gem to attack.

"Empoleon, counter with Scald!"

Dexter needn't have given the command. As soon as the rocks came flying towards Empoleon, they were met mid-air by a spray of boiling water from an Empoleon one step ahead of her opponent. As the attacks collided and exploded in a ball of steam and rock fragments, Empoleon was quickest to react, and launched another Scald at the Nihilego, this time landing a sweet hit directly onto the top of the hat-like head.

As the creature recoiled in pain, burned from the Scald attack, Dexter stretched out a hand to point at the Beast; in a flash the creature somehow flinched again as if struck by an attack, its aura of energy completely disappearing. "Now Empoleon, finish it with another Flash Cannon!"

As Empoleon manoeuvred herself to the side of the Beast, she gave a triumphant cry, before launching the beam of light at the writhing Nihilego. There was an explosion...

As the dust cleared, Dexter nodded with a smug smile to himself at the sight of the unconscious Nihilego, sprawled out cold on the concrete by the broken wall- Empoleon's attack had thrown it away from the Bureau and into the road, its many tentacles gracefully trailing behind it like the tail of a comet. "Good job, Empoleon."

"Its aura..." The stranger was now stood behind Dexter. "How did you get rid of it?"

"I didn't do anything. I guess we got lucky, huh?"

The stranger's gaze, his face hidden behind the multicoloured mask, met Dexter's impassive face as he turned, staring for a second to see if the teen's face changed. When nothing happened, the hooded man grunted, returning Lycanroc to its Pokeball. "Suit yourself. You called it Nihilego..."

"You aren't the only one who knows its name," Dexter said, shrugging. "That radio broadcast from the hacker, Edge, reached a few more people than just you. I may not know much about the other Beasts compared to Nihilego, but I know that one well at least."

The stranger grunted again, nodding to himself, before pacing over to the unmoving Ultra Beast without another word.

"What's his problem?" Dexter said, intending it to be for himself, but realising the two swimmers could hear him. "Do you two know who he is?"

The silence was deafening, but the glare from the girl was worse. "Are you serious? That's the Wanderer, how can you not know who he is?"

"The... Wanderer?"

The male swimmer shook his head in disbelief. "He's a hero, man. I don't know who's under that mask, but since about a week after those Beasts turned up, he's been protecting what's left of Melemele Island. Iki Town, the people who've set up a camp on Ten Carat Hill, our little camp in the Meadow... We wouldn't have survived as long as we have without him protecting us."

"Look, I don't know where you've come from, what rock you've been living under, but he's an icon," the girl said, adjusting the strap of a bag she was carrying and beginning to follow her partner as they walked back towards the north end of Hau'oli City. "We'll see you around, new guy. You may want to thank him for the help though."

"Hey, I beat that Nihilego too!" Dexter retorted.

"You only knocked it out."

The three humans and Empoleon turned to look at the man known as the Wanderer, the blunt reply catching them off guard as he crouched over the unconscious Ultra Beast. "Isn't that the point?" the male swimmer asked.

The Wanderer shook his head, prodding a tentacle with the tip of a black shoe and standing back up. "You really think you can survive if you leave them knocked out? You've got to finish the job."

"What do you..." Dexter began to ask, before he realised one thing. As the Wanderer stood up, an outstretched hand wrapped in a black glove was beckoning towards the treeline beyond the cracked wall. Dexter was right to think something was in those shadows, but what it was caught him completely off guard.

As the new arrival pulled itself over the wall with long, black arms, it didn't land on the ground on the other side; its black, talon-like feet seemed to levitate just a couple of feet above the ground itself. The pitch-black mass of the huge, tall Pokemon looked almost like it was made from crystal, but the shadows it threw were strange, as its body seemed to be refracting the very light shining on it. All in all, the hulking, black, spiked mass of the newcomer, and the look of brewing rage emanating from its eyes, were incredibly intimidating.

"What the hell is that?" screamed the female swimmer, backing away in horror.

"Nah, we're out of here," her male companion said, grabbing her arm. "Come on Cass, we've gotta go. This man's got a Beast of his own!"

The Wanderer didn't even look up from the Nihilego to watch them leave; it was almost as if the man didn't care. "You know what to do, my friend."

The new Pokemon nodded, stood beside the Nihilego with him, before a fierce and colourful ball of light began to shine from in front of the creature's face. As the ball grew in size, the creature suddenly threw its massive arms forward, and several viciously humming beams of multicoloured light launched themselves at the body of the Nihilego, to the sound of an explosion...

The Wanderer dusted himself off and nodded as he looked down at the pile of ash at his feet. "Good work."

"Necrozma, the Prism Pokemon, and a Legendary Pokemon of Alola!"

The Wanderer stiffened at the sound of the unnaturally chipper, electronic, high pitched voice that came from behind him. "Is that..."

Dexter didn't look up from his Pokedex, scrolling through the new data as the now-named Necrozma stared impassively at him. "Impressive. He's not an Ultra Beast, if this thing can scan him. How did you find a Legendary Pokemon?"

The Wanderer turned to look at Dexter, and Dexter felt like for the first time he was being properly taken in. "That's not an Alola Pokedex."

"Nope." Dexter shook his head, looking up. "Sinnoh Pokedex, with the National Dex upgrade. Why, can you scan the Ultra Beasts with an Alolan one? Because I can't seem to get any details with this-"

"Nor could you with an Alola Pokedex. They're not of this world."

"Tell me something I don't know. Are you going to tell me where you found Necrozma now?"

The Wanderer paused. "Ten Carat Hill. He saved me from another Nihilego. Stuck with me since. Listen, kid-"

"Dexter, please. My name's Dexter Ray."

"Dexter..." The gruff mouth visible beneath the Wanderer's mask almost twitched with a smile for a second. "So you're the one they told me to look for."

"What?"

"You're the boy from Sinnoh, the boy who's been fighting Beasts since this... disaster struck. You're the one who rides his own Pokemon-"

"You people treat that like it's a crime sometimes," Dexter said, rolling his eyes.

The Wanderer met his gaze. "Not quite. In fact, it makes you very valuable."

"Valuable? To who?"

"There's a group of survivors on Iki Town who wanted me to find you on their behalf. Bring you in. I was scouting the Marina to see if you were out on the water when I heard the radio call, and now here you are. You've been travelling Alola since the Beasts ran wild, haven't you?"

"Well, yeah," Dexter replied, uneasy. "I've got to help where I can, haven't I?"

"Then come with me to Iki Town. You may be able to help a lot more people."

"Do I get a choice?"

"Of course."

Dexter paused to look at the hulking Legendary Pokemon, and the rather savage look still in its eyes. "He isn't going to use that Prismatic Laser attack on me if I say no, is he?"

"Of course not."

Dexter smiled to himself, returning Empoleon to her Pokeball. "You know, I was heading to Iki Town anyway to get some medical supplies. I may as well come with you."

The Wanderer nodded, turning to walk back towards the Beachfront and the outskirts of Hau'oli City. "Good. Then let's not waste any more time here." He paused, turning to see Necrozma still staring at Dexter, arms crossed as if it were trying to work something else, but his own frown lasted only a second. "Come on Necrozma. He's with us now."

Necrozma held its gaze with Dexter for a second, before letting its arms fall to its side and hovering after the Wanderer. Dexter shook his head to himself, taking a moment to look at the smashed windows of the Tourist Bureau and the heap of ash that had once been a Nihilego, and thinking to himself how quickly events had changed. Just a second ago he'd been fighting another Beast off, and now he was in the company of a complete stranger and a Legendary Pokemon, who both scared and confused him in equal measure. Iki Town couldn't come soon enough.

"We'll be fine," he said to himself, as he watched his shadow flicker for just a moment behind him. "Let's see what Iki Town has to offer..."

 **(***)**

 **A/N: And there we have it. I promise the Wanderer will be unmasked... eventually. Where would be the fun in revealing it now?**

 **Next chapter will hopefully arrive soon, depending on how revision goes, but I hope you enjoyed this one! If you want to review, please be my guest (as long as you aren't flaming, I love to see them), and of course any favourites or follows are always appreciated.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Ya boy.**


	3. On the Road

**A/N- Greetings all, it's ya boy. Slightly delayed once again with a chapter upload due to moving back to uni to start my exam season, but I'm back with Chapter 3!**

 **Last time, we met the enigmatic Wanderer and the Legendary Pokemon, Necrozma, and we left off with Dexter deciding to go with them to Iki Town to speak with someone who wanted to meet Dexter. It's about time we got on with that journey, don't ya think?**

 **Enjoy!**

 **(***)**

Hau'oli City Beachfront was quiet once again, as Dexter followed the Wanderer towards Iki Town, the black mass of Necrozma hovering along at the back of their motley crew. The sun was just starting to set over on the horizon, throwing golden glimmers onto the surface of the sea water as the waves lapped against the shoreline. If it wasn't for the fact the Beachfront was totally abandoned as a result of the region-wide attacks by Ultra Beasts, it would have been less beautiful- Dexter could picture the beach packed with tourists, and he almost felt that in the isolation and ruin, nature had somehow contrived to be more beautiful than before.

Dexter wasn't the only one appreciating the early evening light. His Pokedex scan of Necrozma only revealed so much about a Legendary Pokemon he had known absolutely nothing about until this day, but watching it follow along behind him and the Wanderer, Dexter saw how it spread its arms wide and faced the sun, as if it were basking in the light to recharge. However, as Dexter realised he was staring, so did the Prism Pokemon; it crossed its arms and fixed a steely glare at Dexter, who gulped and turned around. Clearly Necrozma didn't like to be the centre of attention too much.

He cleared his throat. "So who's the man behind the mask?"

The response from his companion was a tut, and a subtle twitch of the hood. "You realise how foolish a question that is?"

"How come?"

The Wanderer paused, turning to face Dexter and fix him with a stare. "Don't you think the point of a man wearing a hood and mask is that he doesn't want people to know who's beneath it all?"

"Good point, well made." Dexter met his stare. "But it doesn't make it easy to trust you, you know. I'm coming to Iki Town anyway, so it makes sense for me to walk with you, but it doesn't mean I fully trust you. I can't while you wear that."

"You don't have to trust me. It's the people in Iki Town who want your help, not me. I'll be gone once you're there."

"Huh." Dexter resumed walking, as the pair of humans and their Legendary companion drew closer to the Trainer's School where Dexter had been resting earlier. "Can I ask where you found Necrozma, or do you not want me to know that either?"

"..." The Wanderer nodded to himself. "Ten Carat Hill. He... saved me, from the Beasts."

Dexter noted the pause, but he didn't push it. "And now you fight Ultra Beasts together?"

"We kill Ultra Beasts. You can't do what you tried to do with that Nihilego and leave them unconscious. You have to destroy them completely, prevent them from hurting anyone else."

"I don't know... They're still Pokemon, even if my Pokedex won't scan them. Part of me gets the whole wanting to kill them thing, and part of me just wants to do what I've been doing and take notes."

"You've been taking notes?"

Dexter nodded, sliding his backpack off his back and searching through it on the move, handing a notepad to the Wanderer. "And drawings, although I'm not the best with a pencil. But hey, there you go! That's most of what I've found so far, like the type weaknesses I've discovered and the moves they use-"

"You've fought a lot of them," the Wanderer interrupted, flicking through the pages. "And some very detailed drawings. Although the nicknames... why have you decided to call one 'Origami'?"

Dexter grabbed the notepad back, looking embarrassed. "That's the one I think is Grass and Steel type. Origami's a Kantonese paper art technique. It's kind of a joke because its blades are paper thin... I know it's lame-"

"What a terrible sense of humour you have," the Wanderer said with a chuckle. "Necrozma enjoyed it though, he's laughing."

Dexter turned to look at the wild-eyed Legendary, frowning at the noise it was making. "That's a laugh? I thought he was growling at me."

"Sometimes it's hard to tell."

Dexter coughed. "Anyway... You haven't seen one of them around here?"

"No. Mostly Nihilego and a couple of others on Melemele Island, from what I've seen."

"You travel the whole island?"

"Correct. There are settlements across the island. Hau'oli City may be abandoned, but between the safety of Iki Town, and the little camp in the Meadow-"

"There's a camp of people living there?"

"That's where the two swimmers you met earlier live. Captain Ilima's looking after them, but they keep coming into Hau'oli City to scavenge supplies. I keep an eye on them when they do, since they always seem to run into trouble."

"Why not set up in Verdant Cavern? If Ilima's still alive, surely he'd stick with his Totem Pokemon?"

The Wanderer paused his long strides briefly, looking over his shoulder, before continuing. "... Of course. You did the trials before all of this happened, I assume?"

Dexter nodded. "Ilima's Totem was a Gumshoos, right? The mongoose thing?"

"Yes. But since the Beasts ran wild, it went feral. Territorial. The humans who tried to move into the Cavern under its protection got driven out. The Cavern is safe for wild Pokemon, but not for humans."

"Damn." Dexter smiled to himself. "And yet you didn't want to settle. I'm guessing you prefer going it alone?"

"I... Do you?"

"Not really answering my question, but yeah. I do more good travelling than I do sat around in one place, and I can't just sit around and watch as other people suffer. Much the same as you travelling around this island, but-"

"But you can do it for the whole region," the Wanderer interrupted. "Because you Surf on your Empoleon."

"You locals get so funny about that," Dexter said, rolling his eyes. "Just because I don't use a Ride Pager. You know, Empoleon doesn't object to letting me Surf on her back, I didn't see why I had to get an expensive pager when I got here."

"A lot of the locals think it prevents too many Pokemon being exploited. The region keeps a few Pokemon available for anyone to call, rather than have each Trainer use a Pokemon as a HM slave."

"Ha!" Dexter's laugh disturbed something in the hedgerow by the abandoned Pokemon Centre at the edge of Route 1, and he whipped around for a second, Necrozma staring intently at the hedge too in case any Ultra Beast decided to emerge. "When you have a partner as close as me and Empoleon are though, you can't exactly just say she's my slave. I wouldn't ride on her back if she didn't want me to. Just a little insensitive of Alolans to not recognise that."

"I suppose..." The Wanderer paused, looking into the doorway of the Pokemon Centre to see a dark, empty room. "But yes, to answer your question, I prefer to help as many as I can. That means travelling, and Necrozma keeps me safe."

"You and me aren't so different then, after all," Dexter said, noting the Wanderer's wry smile beneath his mask. "Since you've stopped outside the old Pokemon Centre, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yes. It's probably empty, but it's never a bad thing to check for medical supplies here. Come on."

Dexter followed his strange travelling companion into the lobby of the Centre, the lighting that used to make it so bright and welcoming completely dead. "You know I was only going to Iki Town to get medicine, right? To heal my poisoned Mudsdale? If I find what I need, what's to stop me from just leaving you and turning away?"

"You wouldn't. You're better than that, Dexter- you want to help people." As Necrozma stooped to pull its huge frame under the low doorway, the Wanderer looked over to see Dexter's eyes light up, diving behind the counter of the cafe in the corner. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Dexter's grin was wide as he brought a package up triumphantly from beneath the counter. "I can't believe it, Old Gateau! It's been so long since I've had any of this!"

"..." The narrowing of the Wanderer's eyes was nearly visible beneath the mask he wore. "We come to a hospital and you go looking for some cake?"

"Well, it is four days until my birthday. All I need now are the candles." Dexter turned to look the Wanderer in the eye. "See, this is the thing about Alola that got to me when I travelled here. You only see what you want. You do know Old Gateau has healing properties for Pokemon, right?"

"I-"

"Typical. It's delicious, I get it, but it heals Pokemon as well as tasting good. But no, Alolans don't think to sell it as a cure, you just stick it in a cafe and charge far too much for it." Having got a cloth out of his backpack, Dexter wrapped the cake up and stowed it in his bag. "Don't mind me, I'm keeping it for myself. I won't say no to the people of Iki Town healing Mudsdale for me, but this'll come in handy another day."

The Wanderer shook his head. "When they told me a boy from Sinnoh was not only surviving on his own against the Beasts, but travelling the region and saving lives, I never believed it."

"And now?"

"I... see how you've survived so long now."

"The extra knowledge I have or the fact I don't quit? Either way, blame me having a Ranger for a father." Dexter paused for a moment, and turned with a smile. "Did you find anything?"

The Wanderer's response was to heft a cloth bag over his shoulder and turn to face the door. "More medicine than I expected. I thought this would have been completely looted a while ago."

"Never hurts to look, I guess."

"Exactly." The Wanderer turned to look towards Route 1, facing a sun that was sinking lower in the sky as evening drew in. "Come on, the sunset will be soon. Let's try and make it to Iki Town before nightfall."

"You've got it..."

 **(***)**

As the sun began to sink beneath the horizon, Dexter's eyes weren't drawn to the burning orange sun. Instead, as he followed the Wanderer and the towering figure of Necrozma underneath an ornate wooden archway and into Iki Town, his eyes were drawn to the many beautiful houses that remained standing. Torches burned bright in their stands outside houses, and lights from within the houses lit up the curtains that were drawn in their windows in preparation for the night ahead. It wasn't that the town itself was especially beautiful- he had seen far more stunning things in Alola than this town- but as he took it all in, he realised what shocked him was that the town seemed so... normal.

"It's like this apocalypse never happened," he said in awe, turning to the Wanderer as they walked towards a huge wooden stage in what Dexter presumed to be the centre of the town. "How is this place so intact? I didn't even see people guarding the entrance!"

"If you don't see them, they're doing their jobs properly," the Wanderer replied, not stopping walking. "They keep a good eye out for any Beasts. This town's under very good protection."

"I'd say..." Dexter paused, briefly, as the Wanderer turned to walk towards what looked like the largest house in the village, a massive triangular arch setting it head and shoulders above the other houses. "But we're the only ones outside right now... is there a curfew?"

"The sun is starting to set, Dexter. Better safe than sorry." The Wanderer nodded to Necrozma. "Stay outside and catch the last of the sun, Necrozma, if you need to recharge. And find somewhere close to settle for the night, in case we need waking up."

"He probably wouldn't fit inside anyway, it's only a small door." Necrozma glared at Dexter. "Right, sorry, don't hurt me please."

The Wanderer gestured to the door. "Come on, Dexter. Someone's waiting for us, I'm sure."

"Aren't you going to knock? Kind of rude to just walk in."

The Wanderer ignored Dexter and walked in ahead anyway, stony silent. Dexter looked at Necrozma, who simply shrugged and walked off towards the main stage, before following the Wanderer inside the house. "Whoa..."

Whatever Dexter was expecting from the massive house, bigger than all of the others in the town, he was still blown away. He didn't know whether it was the huge, vibrant rug laid out on the floor in front of blue-cushioned wicker couches, or the large plants that seemed to spring up everywhere within the main room, or the giant glass window at the back of the house that was flanked by blue and orange banners that somehow didn't clash with the wooden walls of the house, but he suspected it was all of it and more that blew him away. The house could only be described as impressive.

"Like what you see, my boy?"

The coughing and the booming voice snapped Dexter out of his trance taking in the house, and he realised that a man who had been sat on one of the couches in front of him had stood and strode towards him and the Wanderer. The man was tall and wide, with a hearty voice that matched his appearance; though his eyes were hidden beneath thick, grey bushy eyebrows, and an equally-thick moustache twitched on his face, Dexter could tell that the hearty smile was genuine. Even if something didn't seem quite right...

The houseowner stopped in front of the Wanderer, looking him up and down. "It's been a while, and I see you haven't changed."

"Did you expect me to change?"

"I expected to see something, but I'm not sure what." Dexter had tried not to flinch at the sudden coldness in the voice of the Wanderer, but the old man didn't seem to bat an eyelid. "Nevertheless, I'm glad to see you... old friend."

"You know him?" Dexter asked, before flinching for real this time at the iciness in the glare the Wanderer shot him. "Okay, I get it, I won't ask."

The old man chuckled to himself, before doubling over with another coughing fit. Straightening up, and quickly pocketing the handkerchief into the pocket of the yellow shirt he was wearing, he smiled benevolently at Dexter. "I imagine you have a lot of questions, if you are who you think you are."

"If you're hoping I'm Dexter Ray, then yeah, here I am. And I do have a lot of questions, although I feel bad for asking this one..."

"Go ahead, my boy!"

"I recognise your face, but I can't remember where from, or your name-"

"Ha!" The old man rolled his eyes, but Dexter could tell there was no malice behind it; something about the man just screamed friendliness. "They never remember their first Grand Trial, do they? I remember everyone who beats me, and yet they always seem to forget..."

"Oh my..." Light dawned on Dexter. "You're the Kahuna?"

The man who Dexter had been brought to see nodded, a wide smile on his face. "That would be me, Dexter. My name is Hala, Kahuna of Melemele Island. And we have a lot to discuss..."

 **(***)**

 **A/N: And there we have it! I wonder what Hala will have to say to Dexter next chapter...**

 **As always, thanks for all the support and reviews- you make my day, every one of you, when I see a notification pop through. Shoutout to RadBattery and Dante in particular for being superb support- I appreciate it so damn much.**

 **Feel free to leave a review (just as long as it isn't a flame, although I welcome constructive advice), or even drop me a favourite/follow on this story! I also encourage you to check out some of my other work if you like this!**

 **Thanks again for reading, folks.**

 **Ya boy, out.**


	4. The Kahuna

**A/N: Greetings all, it's ya boy. It might have taken me three weeks to get clear of exams and get another chapter written, but here we are with Chapter 4 of The Remnants!**

 **Last time we found out that it was Hala who had asked the Wanderer to bring Dexter to him (sorry to those who might have thought Hala was the Wanderer, but I'll keep you in suspense a little longer). I wonder what Hala has to ask of Dexter?**

 **On with the show…**

 **(***)**

The sun had completely set by now over Iki Town, but the inside of the grand house of the Kahuna was still brightly lit up by the orange glow of candles and torches that were dotted around the main room. Shadows flickered outside as trees swayed in the light wind, and as Necrozma paced around the outside of the house keeping guard- there was no way the hulking frame of the Legendary Pokemon would have made it inside, so every so often as it passed a window weird shadows were thrown on the floor of the main room.

Dexter, sat on the blue cushions of one of the numerous wicker couches, wasn't focused on Necrozma's stalking outside, or his Pokeballs which were sat on the coffee table in front of him having been fully healed. Nor was he focused particularly on watching what the Wanderer was doing particularly, although he could see the tall, masked man leaning against a wooden cabinet at the side of the room, just within his field of vision. In fact, Dexter's focus was taken up with the words of the old Kahuna in front of him.

It had been a long time since Dexter had seen Hala, the Kahuna of Melemele Island- when he had first arrived in Alola from Sinnoh, his Grand Trial had been Dexter's first real experience of the power of Z-Moves and of an Alolan Trainer. Given everything that had happened since, however, it wasn't so much of a surprise Dexter couldn't remember him at first, and in Dexter's defence Hala seemed a little less lively than he remembered. Something about his face was… gaunt, in a sense. Certainly less full. It wasn't Hala's face that was important though, but the story he was telling. "So that Trainer, Sun… He caught the Legendary Solgaleo, all because of that scheme? Am I following this right?"

Hala coughed into a handkerchief again, but he nodded with a smile after. "Indeed you are. Solgaleo came to him and Moon, his sister, when we needed it most. If they hadn't have found Solgaleo, they'd have never been able to stop that woman's plan-"

"She was the Aether Foundation's President, right?" Dexter asked, taking a sip of a mug of cocoa Hala had provided. "The one who tried to summon the Ultra Beasts here?"

"Correct. She had this obsession with the one called Nihilego, and without Solgaleo's intervention she may have succeeded in bringing more of them to this world." Hala smiled wryly. "I had to fight one off myself, here in Iki Town, on that day. Myself and Tapu Koko took one down."

"There were Ultra Beasts here even back then?" Dexter paused. "Wait, you fought with Tapu Koko?"

"Oh yes. An insect creature that was nearly a match for both of us was fought off by Tapu Koko." Hala's smile disappeared. "It's a shame they don't help us now. More would still be alive."

"When did the Tapus disappear?"

"They didn't disappear." The Wanderer's interjection cut over what Hala was beginning to say, and Dexter turned to look at the masked man, who didn't meet his gaze. "They gave up on us."

"You can't be serious-"

"The day it all started, the Tapus realised we were a lost cause. They protect themselves now, as they should." The Wanderer shook his head. "They won't come back to help us."

"You are right in that they protect themselves," Hala said, slowly. "But I know they will come back. They have to."

"You're a naïve old man sometimes, Hala."

"No. Unlike you, I still have some faith." Hala's voice remained measured even as he responded to the Wanderer's insult, and he turned back to Dexter. "What I guess I'm getting to though, Dexter, is that all of this is linked to the way Alola is now."

Dexter took another sip of cocoa. "Okay, I think I'm seeing it. What happened then?"

"As far as I know, from what I've been told, the Ultra Beasts started appearing more frequently across Alola after then. More and more different kinds, each fought off by Sun and Moon."

"Understandable that they would take responsibility for it," Dexter said. "Sun became the Champion of the region, didn't he? And they did have Solgaleo…"

Hala nodded. "Yes. But one day, from what I gather, they went to take on an Ultra Beast and… lost." He paused to cough into the handkerchief again, with Dexter watching it as he pocketed it again carefully, but also noting how a tear appeared to be forming in the corner of his eye. "I haven't seen them since. Nobody has."

"And then, because they lost…"

"The swarms arrived," said the Wanderer, now fiddling with the leaves of one of Hala's pot plants. "Alola as you knew it fell. Where were you when it happened, Dexter?"

"Ula'Ula Island. Tapu Village, I think. It seems like so long ago…"

"And you've made your way here since then, and survived since then," Hala noted. "Impressive, my boy. And I'm also impressed how easily you've taken this all in your stride."

Dexter shrugged. "I'm from Sinnoh. If you talk to anyone from Sinnoh about strange beasts from another world appearing from holes in the sky and trashing the place, they'll tell you they've seen it before. We have Team Galactic to thank for that."

"I see." Hala smiled. "By now, you're probably wondering why you're here."

"I'm wondering that, yes. But before you tell me, can I ask something?"

"Of course, my boy. Feel free."

Dexter nodded. "You said about 'the one called Nihilego' before, which means I'm assuming you heard about it from a radio broadcast. Is that how you've heard about me?"

Hala laughed, a sharp bark but not at all harsh. "You're very perceptive, Dexter. You probably heard the radio broadcast from the hacker called Edge-"

"I think every surviving person in Alola did. Do you know him?"

Hala shook his head. "As far as I know, he's working with Captain Sophocles at Hokulani Observatory. The rest of Alola's communications may be down, but those two managed to turn an observatory into a radio broadcast station. But yes, the information he stole on Nihilego has made fighting it so much easier. I'd love to know who he is."

"So that explains that," Dexter said. "But then there's me…"

"Ah yes." Hala smiled. "You see, the Observatory broadcasts a radio frequency that I imagine all survivors are tuned into. I imagine there's a radio in that bag of yours tuned to that very frequency. But Sophocles was also able to create a secondary, encrypted frequency for those of us left of the old order. The surviving Captains and Kahunas."

"And you've been talking about me?" Dexter asked, eyebrows raised. "Why?"

"Everywhere you go, you've been helping people, Dexter. People were bound to sit up and take notice. But add into that the fact that you can travel between islands without a Ride Pager-"

"A lot of people got funny with me over that," Dexter interrupted. "My Pokemon aren't HM slaves, you know."

"I don't doubt that for one second. But the fact you weren't confined to one island when everyone else was got us talking. The fact you were travelling for nearly three weeks across most of Alola and hadn't been defeated by any of the Ultra Beasts… how you do it was beyond us, but we needed to bring you in and get your help."

"And that's why you came to find me," Dexter said, turning to address the Wanderer. "Because they needed my help?"

The Wanderer shrugged. "I owed Hala a favour. If you're going to explain what you need from him, Kahuna, then I'm going to bed. I've done my duty, it's his mission now."

"It's actually your mission as well."

The Wanderer turned, and Dexter saw that what was visible of his mouth beneath the mask looked displeased. "Oh no, don't do this to me. I just want to leave, Hala."

"People's lives depend on this. They may die without your help." Dexter flinched at the force behind the Kahuna's words, and as the Wanderer stopped dead in his tracks, Hala turned back towards Dexter. "I don't mean to put pressure on you, Dexter, but we need the help of both of you."

"What's the mission?"

Hala nodded, coughing again. "The Observatory doesn't just communicate with Alolans, Dexter. It's the one place left in the region capable of contacting the outside world. And through Sophocles and Edge's hard work, we were able to find… a Trainer."

"A Trainer?"

"A girl from Alola who left before Sun and Moon were lost to the Ultra Beasts. The daughter of the woman who tried to bring Nihilego to conquer Alola."

"Can she be trusted?"

Hala smiled. "She's the most genuine young girl I know. My grandson was rather smitten with her…"

Dexter noted the pause, and how Hala's face seemed to drop a little, but the last thing he wanted to do was push that. "So what's she doing outside of Alola?"

"When her mother tried to summon Ultra Beasts, she allowed a Nihilego to control her and almost fuse with her. That's my understanding of it anyway. But Nihilego's venom is, as you well know, extremely potent-"

"She's still alive after fusing with it?" Dexter interrupted, shocked. "I've seen people hurt by even the smallest drop!"

"Indeed. But yes, her mother was left in a coma, and the young girl went to Kanto to try and find a treatment for it. Recent updates from the Observatory told us surviving Captains and Kahunas that she had successfully found one."

"So if I put two and two together," Dexter said, looking thoughtful, "you want us to meet her and get the treatment?"

"She's coming here, tomorrow afternoon."

"Isn't Alola quarantined to the outside world?"

Hala chuckled. "We Kahunas have our ways. The Aether Paradise receives boats every once in a while carrying supplies and aid, so we were able to convince the captain of a ship carrying medical supplies to take on an extra passenger. He will drop her in a lifeboat off the coast of Ten Carat Hill."

"And we're to pick her up and escort her?"

"Yes. As far as I've heard, you're able to ride your Empoleon on water. You'd be invaluable in getting her onto shore. From there, you and the Wanderer must escort her here, with the treatment for Nihilego's toxins."

"Ten Carat Hill…"

Dexter turned at the sound of the Wanderer's voice. "Didn't you meet Necrozma there?"

The Wanderer froze for a second, before appearing to regain composure and ignoring Dexter's question. "Why would you send me there?"

"Because this mission is bigger than your past," Hala said, less firm than before but nonetheless defiant- Dexter could tell though that there was an edge to his voice that meant he almost sounded like he was pleading. "Without Necrozma to protect Dexter and our VIP against Ultra Beasts on the trip, we risk so much. I can't lose another person who mattered so much…"

For a long, drawn out moment, the Wanderer looked as if he were going to argue back against the Kahuna, but eventually (after what seemed like an age) he hung his head. "I'll see you in the morning, Dexter."

As the Wanderer slunk off towards one of the guest bedrooms, Hala sighed, turning back towards Dexter. "I had hoped he would be easier to deal with than that."

"Well I don't intend to cause you that much trouble convincing," Dexter said, with a smile, looking the old Kahuna in the eye. "I'll help you. It wouldn't be right if I didn't."

Hala's eyes lit up, and when he stuck his hand out for a handshake Dexter's hand was crushed in a strong, excited grip. "You're a credit to yourself, Dexter. We haven't agreed what we should pay you, though-"

"Pay?" Dexter laughed, despite himself, grasping Hala's hand tight. "It's the end of the world and society's gone to ruin, I don't need money. Nor do I want it, if people's lives depend on me. I'll help because I should, not because the offer's right."

"And you really mean that sincerely," Hala said, looking Dexter in the eye. "I can tell. You impress me, Dexter Ray."

"I still need to find your VIP first." Dexter yawned. "I might have to copy the Wanderer now though and turn in for the night, I'm more than tired right now."

"Entirely understandable, my boy. I will speak to you in the morning. Goodnight, Dexter. And thank you."

"Goodnight, Hala."

As Dexter headed off to find the first comfy bed he had slept in for god knows how long, and Hala headed for his own room after snuffing out a couple of the candle flames that lit the main room of his home, the towering Necrozma folded itself into a sitting position just outside the front door to keep guard for the night. The stars were starting to come out, piercing and bright in a sky untainted by the pollution that afflicted some of the big cities in so many of the regions across the Pokemon world, but as Necrozma tilted its head to the sky as if to gaze into space, an almost imperceptible rustling of grass on the horizon caused it to stare out into the wilds beyond Iki Town with a growl.

Frozen solid for a second, the wild eyes of the black Pokemon stared out towards the long grass, scanning as if something was out there, but when nothing moved again Necrozma shook itself and stopped growling, resuming looking to the stars. Had it kept staring, however, it might have noticed the momentary glint of starlight off something red in the grass, staring right back at it…

Waiting.

 **(***)**

 **A/N: And there we go. Some suitable suspense for a chapter ending, I hope?**

 **Hopefully we won't have such a long delay until next chapter, since exams are now done, but if you enjoyed this please feel free to leave a review or drop this/me a favourite or follow! Any reviews are welcome besides the obvious flames- no author learns without constructive criticism, after all, and no author ever minds praise!**

 **Until the next chapter, ya boy, out.**


	5. Honesty

"... so yeah, a lot of stuff happened last night, Mum. It was a long day."

It was dawn in Iki Town, and Dexter was yet again trying to send a message to his mother. It was strange to him still that he had enough network strength to send his messages through (or at least, so it seemed- he didn't know if his messages were being received), but couldn't receive anything back in return, but it wasn't unheard of. So he sat, as the sun crept above the horizon and cast an orange glow over the town centre, and spoke again to the family he hadn't seen in so long.

"The plan today is to go to the coast of Ten Carat Hill and pick the girl with the antidote up. Me and Empoleon can swim out to meet the boat and bring her in, so hopefully we'll be able to be useful." Dexter smiled. "If we succeed, we've managed to bring back medicine to Alola that could save so many lives. This is huge..."

He looked out to the horizon, and to the sea that was clearly visible from Iki Town from its elevation higher up on Melemele Island. "Other than that, we're all good. Mudsdale is healed now, and so are the others, so we can face anything that comes our way. And hey, my travel companion has a Legendary Pokemon. Hopefully Ultra Beasts won't be too much of an issue."

His smile grew wider. "And hey, before I go... you'll never guess what I found in my bag this morning, when I was sorting through!" He reached down to the floor beside him and held up the photo he'd put by his side to the camera on his laptop. "You remember how I was so upset I thought I'd lost this picture, Mum? The one of me and Quinn at Snowpoint Temple? It's been in my bag this whole time!"

Dexter paused for a moment. "God, she's beautiful in that picture. If you're getting these still, please tell her how much I miss her. It's hard, doing this without her." He clapped his hands. "I'd better go though, Mum. We've got a boat to catch, after all. But I'll keep you updated daily, as I'm trying to, and if anything happens you know me, I'll be straight back flying home on Staraptor. I love you all."

"You know, you should be more honest with her, Dexter."

As Dexter clicked the send button, and closed his laptop down, he was startled by the sudden voice behind him. "Kahuna Hala? What do you mean?" He paused. "And how long have you been here?"

"Not long, my boy," came the reply, as Hala smiled politely. "I was wondering where you'd disappeared off too, and came to look. But long enough to hear what you told your mother."

"What do you mean, be more honest?" Dexter asked, frowning.

Hala chuckled. "My boy, your face gives it away. You and I both know you can't just fly home on Staraptor, or Surf all the way to Sinnoh on Empoleon. It takes two days for a whole boat to get here, with navigators and food supplies. You and your Pokemon would starve or crash long before you made it to another region."

For a moment Dexter was silent, before he sighed and looked down, almost ashamed. "... I know. Staraptor or Empoleon would have to land somewhere to rest, and there's nowhere. I'm stuck here. I guess... I guess if I pretend like I have a choice, like I'm able to get home at any point, it makes it easier for me to cope with being trapped here. And it probably makes it easier for Mum, thinking I could come home any moment."

Hala shook his head. "As a parent myself, I can tell you that it would almost do the opposite. You should be more honest with her, Dexter."

"I will, I just... I have to work up to that, Hala."

"Of course. I understand. Now, who is this beautiful Quinn whose picture you carry with you?" the old Kahuna asked, sitting down with a grunt and a cough besides Dexter as he picked up the photo. "It's a lovely picture, of you two in the snow."

For a moment, Dexter smiled faintly. "Quinn Summer. She's my girlfriend, from back home in Jubilife City. She and I, we're... It's gonna sound embarrassing, and cringeworthy, but she genuinely means so much to me. I wouldn't be half as happy without her in my life."

"That's not embarrassing, my boy!" Hala said, smiling broadly. "It's good to hear you have someone so special and aren't afraid to admit it."

Dexter scratched the back of his head, a little sheepishly. "We've been through a lot, what can I say. She..." He paused. "Yeah, I don't mind telling you this. Just don't tell anyone, okay? It's personal to me."

"You have my word," Hala replied, before his smile was broken by a cough. Producing a handkerchief yet again, he nodded. "What's the story, young man?"

"Well, when Quinn was very little her older brother came back from his journey with allhis Pokemon, and let her play with them. One of them was this old, strong Bibarel he'd caught by a lake somewhere, but this Bibarel had some kind of Pokerus. Well, not only Pokerus, but this other virus, carried by the Pokerus and harmless to humans. And Quinn caught it."

Hala frowned. "How bad are we talking?"

Dexter swallowed, and it was clear he still found this difficult to talk about. "The nurses only gave her about four years. They said she'd never live long enough to make it to start her own journey."

"I'm sorry to hear it my boy. You can stop if you don't like telling me this, I-"

"No, it's fine, trust me," Dexter interrupted, turning to Hala. "I know I don't really know you that well, but it's good to explain this to someone... it's almost like I'm getting it off my chest, I guess. And I can tell I trust you with it, somehow."

"Then by all means, carry on," said Hala, patting Dexter's shoulder. "I'm listening."

"Okay so... yeah, Quinn refused to give up. She was so strong, because she wanted to go on her journey with me, and that gave her a reason to fight. The week before her tenth birthday, she beat the virus."

"So you journeyed together after that?" Hala said, before spluttering into another coughing fit.

"Not quite. Are you alright, by the way? I can stop if you need me to, get you some water or-"

"No, my boy, you're fine," Hala said, stuffing the handkerchief away and smiling. "I'll explain once your story is finished."

"No pressure on me to finish the story then."

"Ha! Take your time, Dexter. It's good to hear a young man so open and so mature with me."

"Okay." Dexter nodded, a smile returning for just a brief moment. "Quinn was free of the virus, but she had to wait a couple of years before she could start her journey. Doctor's orders, and all. In that time I waited for her, so we could start together... And then I got the news. My Dad passed away two days after my twelfth birthday."

Hala looked sombre. "I'm so sorry to hear it."

"Nothing to apologise for. It's taken me a little while to get to grips with it, but yeah. He was a Ranger, who picked up some kind of disease in the water of the Great Marsh of Sinnoh and couldn't fight it. He died so suddenly, but he died doing what he loved."

"That's awful," Hala said, through a coughing fit. "I'm guessing you needed time off to help your mother?"

"Yeah. That and come to terms with his death myself. Quinn was an angel though. She waited for me as I waited for her, helped me the same, and we both ended up starting our journeys together eventually aged fourteen. Late to the party, and then some."

"And your relationship?"

"It grew on the journey, what can I say? We realised how much we'd both helped each other through, how much we genuinely cared for each other, and it just sort of happened over time. It's probably been about eighteen months together now, give or take a few days."

"I'm impressed, young man. You're incredibly mature. And I'm not just comparing you to the usual standard of the twelve year olds I had to battle on a regular basis as Kahuna. Some adults could learn from you."

"Thank you." Dexter paused. "I think I had to do a lot of growing up, between Quinn's sickness and Dad dying. Those experiences taught me a lot, especially Dad. I love Quinn, don't get me wrong, but Dad wanted me to be a Ranger the same as him, and I try to remember what he would do to help people whenever I meet people in need. That's part of why I want to help here."

"He would be very proud of you, my boy," Hala said, patting Dexter's shoulder. "And Quinn and your mother will be too, when you eventually see them. I'm sure of it."

"Thank you, Kahuna."

"I do have to ask why Quinn isn't here, though."

"She and I are good enough that we don't need to travel together all the time. I went off to visit Alola, and she went to visit friends in Almia."

"And now this crisis keeps you stuck here, and her unable to come and visit," Hala said. "You're doing well, my boy."

"Oh I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them when all this is over, don't worry. I keep going for the day when I can go home again."

"Absolutely." Hala raised his eyebrows quizzically. "You don't have a Z-Ring my boy, do you?"

"No, Kahuna," Dexter said, self-consciously rubbing his bare wrist. "Not many non-locals get given them, apparently."

"A shame. I would give you one myself, but I don't have any left anymore." Hala's eyes met Dexter's, and they were suddenly filled with fire. "They would at least allow you to use that Z Crystal you have on the string round your neck."

Dexter flinched, startled. "I... how did you-"

"My boy," Hala laughed, "I've handed out Fightinium-Z for years. You think I wouldn't recognise the aura those crystals give off. Now, may I see it?"

Dexter paused, looking ever so reluctant for a moment, before reaching underneath his T-shirt and drawing out the string, the light from the sunrise catching a turquoise Z Crystal and throwing off beautiful light patterns that almost made Necrozma's Prismatic Laser look bland. "..."

Hala balanced it in his hand as Dexter passed it to him, his eyes widening as he took in the colours and the distinctive markings. "My oh my... you are full of surprises, boy. Such a unique crystal... I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime."

Dexter snatched back the crystal, suddenly defensive as he concealed it back beneath his shirt. "I-"

"My boy, I mean you no harm." Hala's smile was wide, and he patted Dexter's shoulder benignly. "I'm just impressed that that particular crystal has returned after all this time. You continue to surprise me, Dexter."

"You can't tell anyone," Dexter said, but he wasn't angry or so uncertain anymore.

Hala nodded, and for a moment he wasn't looking at Dexter, but staring intently at Dexter's shadow. "Your secret is safe with me. I just hope one day you can use it. But until then, take good care of it." His eyes met Dexter's, and his grin was wide. "Take good care of _him_."

Dexter coughed, uncomfortable, and sought desperately to change the story. "Anyway, since that's my story done..."

"Ah, yes, my apologies, Dexter. But thank you for being so open with me. Did you have a question for me in return?"

Dexter nodded. "I don't know how to say it, other than being straight with you about it, so I'm going to have to be blunt- just know I don't mean to be rude. I saw blood in that handkerchief when you coughed, yesterday, and I saw more of it today while I was talking. You're ill, aren't you?"

Hala nodded, but the joviality was gone from the face of the old Kahuna- to Dexter, he looked like he had suddenly aged before his eyes. "Nihilego's venom takes its toll, Dexter. It's not easy to hide."

"You..." Dexter paused, processing what Hala had just said. "You're still standing after a Nihilego attacked you?"

"I'm made of tough stuff." Hala chuckled to himself for a moment, before his mood faded again. "It's been two weeks since one of them got me, briefly. I was lucky Hariyama could fight it off, but it's hurt since then."

"Then the antidote-"

"That antidote will save the lives of young children who are currently fighting for their lives. I'm not the primary concern."

"Why are you hiding it?" Dexter turned to look at Hala. "Seriously, that doesn't help you. You need to tell the people of Iki Town you're suffering too, you can't go on silently dealing with it."

"I'm their Kahuna, son. I'm supposed to run the place, be the one who protects them from the Beasts. I fight off those horrible insect Beasts on a weekly basis, it seems. If I was to stop all of a sudden, I'd succumb to it a lot more, and then who defends Iki Town?"

"I... guess." Dexter nodded. "I'm not saying to stop fighting, they do need you. We all need people like you to protect us. But please for your sake, make sure you're first in line when the Wanderer and I come back with this antidote? You said it yourself, Iki Town needs you, so for god's sake accept that that means you should be prioritised for the antidote. Please?"

"I'm sure I can do that for you," Hala said, with a wry smile. "As long as you don't tell my family."

"Your family... I've also got to ask about that."

"My boy?"

"You mentioned a grandson yesterday, briefly, but you didn't want to talk about him then. Can I ask why?"

Hala sighed, after a moment. "... his name is Hau. He was best friends with Sun and Moon before they disappeared. The last I heard of him, he was dashing off to Poni Island to 'help them'."

"And you've not heard from him since?"

"Not a thing." Hala looked at Dexter. "If you find anything about him, even the worst news possible-"

"Are you sure you'd want to know?"

"It's harder not knowing, son. It may hurt for a grandfather to outlive his grandchild, if that's the case, but even if Hau is gone, knowing that would be less painful than this uncertainty."

"Then I'll tell you if we find anything."

"Thank you, Dexter."

"It's the least I could do," Dexter replied, as Hala's hand crushed his in a handshake.

"Just in return, don't tell the Wanderer about my stuff. I'm not sure I trust him fully yet."

"Deal."

"Incidentally, you seem to know who he is..."

Hala shook his head. "If you're going to ask me to reveal who's under that hood, I can't. When he trusts you, he will tell you. But that's a long way off."

"Oh, well-"

"Not in the sense he dislikes you. I get the impression he's impressed with you, as much as he has questions. He may act like he dislikes you, but he's an idiot towards everyone these days."

"Really?"

"Of course. But the burden the Wanderer bears is one he struggles with. He won't tell anyone, and the only people who know him know why he hides his face. But I'll say one thing."

"Go on?"

"When the right time comes, tell him about your father. Trust him, for my sake, and let him know. You may find you have a lot more in common with our friend than you realise."

"Okay. But only when the time is right, I promise." Dexter smiled at Hala, standing up. "I feel a lot better for this talk, Kahuna."

"Please, call me Hala, my boy. I can't keep hearing you call me Kahuna like I'm just some pompous elder."

Dexter laughed, before a piercing scream broke the silence of the morning. "Hala, that came from town..."

Hala's face was grim, as he pulled himself upright with a groan at his aching bones. "That can only mean one thing, Dexter. Are you ready?"

"Sure," Dexter replied, clinching his Pokeballs. "We need to help the Wanderer..."

"We need to protect my town, never mind our friend," Hala said, clutching an Ultra Ball as he started to run towards town. "Not on my watch, beasties!"

 **(***)**

 **A/N: And there we have it. A little backstory for Dexter, and a little cliffhanger in preparation for a battle. I'm going to enjoy writing that next chapter...**

 **I didn't do an author's note at the start, because I want to start not doing one and jumping straight into the story, but a huge thank you to all the supporters so far. I hope you're still enjoying it as much as at the start.**

 **If you liked this, feel free to leave a follow or favourite of this or myself (I encourage you to check out my other work). Reviews are also always welcome, whether they're lovely or contain useful advice- just don't be a dick and leave a flame, is all I ask.**

 **Until next time, ya boy, out.**


	6. Centre Stage

**A/N: Just a quick authors note before I begin this chapter to say two things. Firstly, I'm sorry for the delay updating- real life is as always difficult to balance. Secondly, a huge thanks to all who have reviewed, favourited, followed and read so far- particular shout outs to RadBattery, Hero King Gilgamesh and Dante so far for the reviews!**

 **Now, where were we? Iki Town under attack? Let's go see what the fuss is all about, shall we?**

 **Enjoy!**

 **(***)**

By the time Dexter and Hala arrived at a run, Iki Town was a mess. The scream they had heard before must have come from one of the townsfolk, but nobody was out and about even to run from one piece of shelter to another, from one house to another. As far as Dexter could see from his position standing in front of Iki Town's ceremonial stage- and he imagined Hala could see the same- the locals had barricaded themselves inside their homes. Palm trees had been snapped at the base by something and had toppled over onto houses and into the dusty track through the town, one palm tree smashing its way into the bedrooms of one of the houses, and the smell of smoke was beginning to rise where a flaming torch had been knocked over, spreading ash and embers perilously close to another house.

"What the hell is this, Hala?" he asked, conscious of what sounded like the explosions of Pokemon moves just down the hill from the Kahuna's house.

"I don't know," the Kahuna said, coughing a little as he skidded to a stop in front of his own house. "I'm glad the villagers are safe, but where's the Wanderer? Where's Necrozma?"

Dexter opened his mouth to say something, but at the sound of a slightly louder explosion something big and black came flying up the hill through the air at some speed. "Look out!"

As Dexter jumped to one side and rolled, thankful there were no sharp stones to cut him as he landed on the ground, the hulking frame of Necrozma soared through the air to smash into the wooden stage at the heart of the town. With an almighty crack, the force at which Necrozma had been sent flying split the stage in two, sending up a massive cloud of dust and the occasional splinter which (thankfully) missed both Dexter and the Kahuna.

Hala's eyebrows frowned as he sprang forward towards the stage from the safety of his own porch. "This is not good..."

Dexter, reaching the remains of the stage at the same time, began to pull broken planks of wood off of Necrozma, as the Prism Pokemon stirred and struggled to get upright once again. "Can you still fight, Necrozma?"

As Dexter's hand reached towards it, the Legendary started to growl, and a fierce glare met Dexter's eyes, as if Necrozma was determined to stand without the help of the human. Slowly, its massive arms nearly punching holes in what remained of Hala's stage, Necrozma pulled itself upright, summoning the willpower from somewhere unknown to stand ready to fight.

"Here."

Necrozma turned, slightly unsteadily, to face Dexter, whose arm was outstretched with a Sitrus Berry in it. "..."

Dexter nodded to the Pokemon. "If you're still fighting, you need this. Trust me."

Necrozma paused for a moment, before nodding and taking the berry, a beak-like mouth opening up beneath the wild eyes to munch on the berry. "Maaa..."

"You're welcome," Dexter said, smiling despite himself, before turning to Hala. "What did you mean, not good?"

"How many Ultra Beasts have you seen, my boy?" Hala asked, tossing an Ultra Ball into the air.

"A few," Dexter replied, as Hala's mighty Hariyama emerged with a grunt- Dexter quietly made a mental note of how much muscle the Hariyama appeared to have, as opposed to the usual levels of fat a Hariyama had. "Why?"

Hala coughed, frowning. "There's only one which would have the muscle strength to bodily throw something as big as Necrozma for that distance. A red one, a bug. You ever seen it?"

"Once before," Dexter said, nodding, his fingers dancing over one Pokeball. "I think it's a Bug-Fighting type."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the last one I saw really didn't like my Staraptor's Brave Bird," Dexter said, tossing his own Pokeball into the sky at the same time. "So..."

"Starr!"

"You ready to fight another monster, Staraptor?" Dexter said, with a grin, as his loyal bird emerged from its Pokeball with a cry, circling above his head below the gathering clouds before landing on a corner of Hala's roof as if ready to pounce off of it.

"Raptor!"

Hala nodded. "We've got to be careful. Something so strong as to do that to Necrozma is going to be an issue."

"Agreed." Dexter frowned to himself as he looked up at the sky, as if the clouds approaching from Route 1 reminded him of something, but there was another, more pressing question in his head. "Where's the Wanderer?"

"Ah-"

Hala was interrupted by another explosion from just out of sight down the hill, before Dexter's question was answered as the cloaked Wanderer came sprinting up the hill, his Lycanroc in pursuit. "Are you okay? Are any townsfolk hurt?"

The Wanderer skidded to a halt in front of them, his Lycanroc panting as if tired. "Everybody is inside. No injuries. What took you so long?"

"Calling home," Dexter said, instantly, although he immediately regretted it for sounding so stupid when they were under attack from an Ultra Beast.

The Wanderer paused, and Dexter could sense the glare from beneath the mask. "... I really wonder sometimes why I help people like you."

"And sometimes the people wonder why they have to put up with you," Hala said cheerfully. As the Wanderer opened his mouth to protest, Hala's Hariyama chuckling behind him, Hala put his hand on the masked man's shoulder. "It's strong, then, if Necrozma struggles with it?"

The Wanderer nodded, shaking himself. "Takes any hit on the physical side, definitely. It'll take all three of us." He turned to Necrozma, dusting itself off, and nodded at the broken stage. "No sitting down on the job."

Necrozma began to growl at him, before movement in front of the humans and Pokemon coming towards the stage drew its attention, and the growl intensified. As dust cleared from in front of it, Dexter finally got a look at the monster that was attacking Iki Town...

Two massive, swollen arms, with muscles as thick as tree trunks, flexed as the creature walked, not an ounce of fat rippling or bouncing on arms that were abnormally muscular. What appeared to be liquid filled some of those muscle sacs, with bubbles beneath the surface betraying the fact that this creature was something else entirely as white veins coursed across its body. Jagged black spikes rose from every limb and across the creature's body, including at the tips of the four sharp, needle-like legs and at the tips of the orange wings that hung loosely from its back, but what was most disturbing was the head. The giant silver proboscis looked like some kind of spear, glinting even as the sun disappeared behind the clouds, a sharp silver line between two evil-looking red compound eyes that shimmered as a result of the unearthly aura around the Beast...

"Okay," Dexter said, as the creature continued to stalk forward, swinging its titanic arms from side to side and demolishing fence posts and mail boxes, "that one looks a lot stronger than the one I fought."

"You think it's a Bug and Fighting type, my boy?"

"Yes, Kahuna! The one I fought seemed very weak to Flying type moves."

Hala snorted. "Well, this won't do much, but it's worth a try. Hariyama, let us combine our strength!"

The Wanderer pulled Dexter to one side, as Hala and Hariyama pulled an identical pose in front of the Ultra Beast, a ring on Hala's wrist glowing like a miniature sun. "You may want to get out of the way for this."

"Is that what I think it is?" Dexter said, in awe, as Hala began to punch the air in front of him, light streaming from his ring on his wrist to surround Hariyama in a yellow aura.

The Wanderer nodded. "Fightinium Z. Get down."

"ALL OUT PUMMELLING!"

As the dust cleared, Dexter stood up from his crouch besides the Wanderer. He'd never forget the sight of the fists flying through the air from Hariyama, nor the heat of the explosion which struck the creature. The force behind that was something else. "Did we..."

Hala shook his head, Necrozma growling behind him. "Look at it. It barely felt a thing."

Dexter's head whipped round to find the Ultra Beast still standing, albeit in a crater where once there had been smooth ground. It barely looked as if it had been hit by any move at all, let alone a Z-Move from a Kahuna's Hariyama. "What the-"

As the Beast's head tilted to one side, taking in the Wanderer and his Lycanroc stood in front of Hala's house, its gaze seemed to turn to Dexter and take him in, and the creature almost flinched as it focused on the boy who now suddenly realised how isolated from the others he was. It flexed its muscles, punching one massive fist into the palm of another, and screamed out in a hideous chitter, before it spread its wings and launched itself forward, aiming for Dexter.

"Dexter, look out!" the Wanderer shouted, as his Lycanroc bounded towards the teenager from the porch of Hala's house, Dexter frozen on the spot as the creature barrelled towards him...

Within the blink of an eye, as his own Staraptor launched itself from the roof of the house and as Lycanroc closed the gap, Dexter's salvation came from another source. Closing the gap between Dexter and itself in the blink of an eye, Necrozma reached out one massive black arm and grabbed the Beast mid-Lunge, throwing it bodily over its own shoulder towards the tree line by the entrance to the Ruins of Conflict and away from Dexter.

Dexter, arm shielding his face in what would have been a futile gesture, turned to watch as the Beast rolled across the dirt, before digging its four legs into the ground somehow and skidding to a halt across the clearing, flexing its ridiculous arms again. "Thank you, Necrozma! Staraptor, get it with Brave Bird!"

As Necrozma stood itself between Dexter and the Beast, Staraptor altered the course of its dive very slightly, surrounding itself in a bright light as it careered towards the bug from skies beginning to darken with rain. At full force, Staraptor's attack hit with a bang, and as it pulled upwards, somehow Staraptor recovered enough from the recoil to dig a clawed foot right into the face of the creature; while one talon clinked against the rock-solid proboscis, and didn't leave a scratch, two sharp talons raked through the Beast's left hand eye, drawing a deep gash through the eye and across the side of its face.

The Beast screamed, a pain behind the buzz as it swiped a massive arm out in vain at Staraptor, before screeching again as the Wanderer's Lycanroc launched a Rock Slide at it, boulders bouncing off its muscles and its spikes. It had little time to react to this before Necrozma launched itself at it, a Psycho Cut smacking into the chest of the Beast...

Only for the creature to catch Necrozma's massive black arm in its own fist, stopping it mid-flight.

"Necrozma!" the Wanderer shouted, rising to come to the side of his Legendary companion, but there was nothing he could do. As the Beast skidded backwards slightly from Necrozma's own momentum, its legs dug into the ground, arresting the push, before its muscles strained to push against Necrozma and drive it back. With a screech, the massive arm suddenly flexed, and Necrozma was sent flying once more, landing with a crunch in Hala's porch.

As Necrozma struggled to get up, smacking a fist into the ground to send a Stone Edge attack flying towards the Beast, the massive arms grasped half of the wooden stage that had been torn apart by Necrozma's landing and lifted it bodily, using the stage as a shield. Not only did Necrozma's attack bounce harmlessly off the wood, but Staraptor, diving back into the fray with another Brave Bird, was forced to cancel the attack and frantically swoop away before crashing into the wood.

The insect chittered again, the disgusting noise still loud enough over the sound of the worsening winds of the growing storm, before launching the giant slab of wood in one throw at Hala and his Hariyama. The Hariyama's block was successful, protecting the Kahuna, but the immediate follow-up Focus Punch smashed through the wood in one almighty punch, launching Hariyama into the trees and knocking it out in one.

As the dust settled, the Beast's head swung back to Dexter and the other humans, stood with their backs to the entrance to Iki Town, and Dexter realised how hopeless it looked. Only the Wanderer's Lycanroc was still standing; Hariyama was out cold, Necrozma was feebly trying to remove itself from Hala's front porch, and Staraptor was struggling too much with the wind to be able to properly direct an attack.

"Well, no time like the present," he muttered to himself, as Hala and the Wanderer stood beside him facing down the screeching Beast, the Wanderer's cloak flapping in the wind. He reached an arm into the rain...

"Huh?"

As Dexter reached out his palm, droplets began to land on his skin. This wasn't what Dexter was confused about. What he was confused about was that what landed his palm wasn't rain.

"Is that..." Hala began to ask, craning to look.

"Snow?" the Wanderer finished, staring at Dexter's palm.

As Dexter flinched, and more of the balls of ice began to hammer down, he shook his head. "This isn't snow! This is hail!"

"I don't understand!" Hala shouted, as chunks of ice began raining down in earnest upon the centre of Iki Town, some ricocheting off the skin of the Beast and making it chitter in pain as some hit it where Staraptor had wounded it earlier. "This isn't natural weather for here!"

"Which means something's causing it," Dexter said, standing up despite the pain of being struck by the hailstones. "Snow Warning."

"Ninetales, Moonblast!"

The shout came from behind the three humans, and it was lucky that they had the foresight to jump out of the way. An Alolan Ninetales, its fur pristine and light blue and covered in flecks of the hail it had summoned, cried out, launching an orb of bright pink energy at the Beast. Upon impact, the Beast visibly appeared hurt, barrelling across the clearing in as much pain as when Staraptor had hit it with a Brave Bird.

"Blizzard!"

As Dexter stood stunned at the sight of such a beautiful and rare Alolan Pokemon, one he had never seen before on his travels, the white tips of the tails of the Ninetales glowed bright, before an enormous flurry of snow was sent flying at the Beast. When the explosion from the attack landing cleared, Dexter saw the Beast struggling to get up, but before he could shout to Staraptor to finish it off, the scarred Beast took one look at the humans and its new attacker, screeched a defiant cry off at Dexter and took off, its orange wings buzzing behind it as it fled in the direction of the Ruins of Conflict.

"We need to kill it," the Wanderer said immediately, as Ninetales cried out to the sky, striding forward as if to follow the Beast. "We can't leave it alive."

Hala stepped in front of him and blocked him with an arm. "Are you serious? What will you kill it with? Necrozma took a beating, as did half my Pokemon. We can't take that on again so soon."

"We can find a way-"

"To get us killed? Absolutely you can find a way at this rate." Hala returned his Hariyama to its Ultra Ball. "The Ruins of Conflict is Tapu Koko's temple. It won't survive trying to take the Tapu on in its injured state. And it won't be coming back any time soon."

"You're unbearably naive."

"And you're unbearably violent."

"And both of you are missing the point," Dexter spoke up fiercely.

"I beg your pardon?"

"What, my boy?"

As the unknown Ninetales shuddered, the intensity of the hailstorm it had summoned seeming to dissipate slightly, Dexter nodded. "We wouldn't be here having this conversation if we hadn't been saved like this." He turned to face Iki Town's entrance by Route 1, and finally saw the Ninetales' Trainer for the first time as the Ninetales was returned to its Pokeball. "We owe you our thanks."

The young girl who stood in front of him was all dressed in white, from her white top and skirt to her white trainers, and she looked up from returning her Ninetales to meet Dexter's dull blue eyes with her own, wide green ones, brushing a blonde bang from her cheek with a slight smile. "I'm glad I could help."

Hala looked shocked to see her, as the Wanderer stood beside him with his mouth open, apparently speechless. "Y-you're here? What are you doing here already?"

"You really didn't need to send an escort to come and get me, Hala. I have my own Pokemon who can Surf and Fly, I knew how to get here." The girl looked serious. "You look like you're the ones who could use the help."

"You're the girl we were supposed to collect?" Dexter asked, confused. "The one with the Nihilego venom antidote?"

The girl nodded, as the clouds caused by her Ninetales finally disappeared, and smiled again at Dexter. "That's me. My name is Lillie. It's a pleasure to meet you. And who are you?"

 **(***)**

 **A/N: And there we go. Welcome back to Alola, Lillie. I've been looking forward to bringing her into this for some time. I wonder what will happen now our favourite daughter of a criminal has returned?**

 **Thank you very much for reading, as always, and I hope you enjoyed. Reviews are always welcome, just so long as they aren't flames, and I'm always happy to see a follow or favourite of the story.**

 **Ya boy, out.**


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